immigration

An elite team of Arizona Department of Public Safety officers made over 100 arrests last year of those smuggling drugs, people and currency or committing other major crimes, an official said Wednesday to a legislative panel on border issues.

Critics view Arizona’s plans to build a fence on the US-Mexico border as either foolhardy or simply political posturing, but the author of Arizona’s border fence project claims it could go up sooner than expected.

The 2012 election cycle is underway and familiar allegations that illegal immigrants are registering to vote or casting ballots are already cropping up again, but election officials from across Arizona say the oft-made claims are little more than urban legend.

The total cost to defend three border activists ultimately convicted of killing a southern Arizona man and his young daughter in a 2009 home invasion was more than $951,000, making it one of the costliest in Pima County's history.

While Senate President Russell Pearce has been largely missing on the illegal immigration front lately, Republican Jerry Lewis, who is challenging the incumbent in a recall election, isn’t eager to talk about the subject either.

A judge on Tuesday sentenced more than a dozen immigrant rights advocates to one day in jail stemming from a protest last year over Arizona's controversial immigration law, but they got credit for the day they spent behind bars at the time of their arrest.

Ratcheting up her long-running feud with President Barack Obama over illegal immigration and border issues, Gov. Jan Brewer lambasted the president over an announcement that he would effectively put deportations for about 300,000 illegal immigrants on hold.

Randy Parraz, one of the organizers of the recall drive targeting Senate President Russell Pearce, is threatening a lawsuit after signs popped up in the East Valley claiming he supported the boycott against Arizona and promotes open borders.

The Obama administration said Thursday it will allow many illegal immigrants facing deportation the chance to stay in this country and apply for a work permit, while focusing on removing from the U.S. convicted criminals and those who might be a national security or public safety threat.